Tuesday, 28 January 2014

Those of you who follow my Blog will notice that I did'nt get around to updating the Blog as usual this Sunday. This is because I was helping a friend move house over the weekend and yesterday.

Before the house moving activies, I had managed to do a lot of painting. I am still working my way through the Squat army, I managed to complete a further 5 Combats Squads, 40 Squats in all. :)
I have nearly finished the army, which I think is pretty good going since I only started painting in December. I have one more Combat Squad, two Warlords with Hearthguards, two Commisar advisors, and two Bombots left to do. And of course the varnishing and basing to do as well, which will probably take a week in itself.
Enjoy :)

Brotherhood Four's Combat Squads.

Each Squad is equipped with one Conversion Beamer, Bolt guns, and the Squad Leader has a Bolt Pistol.

A metal Squad Leader on the left.

On the right is a converted broken 'Colt Stoner' miniature, using a plastic Squat arm and metal Imperial Guard/Space Marine Conversion Beamer.

Couple of the plastic Troopers with RTB101 Bolters.

'Lee Hotchkiss', and a plastic Squat with metal Conversion Beamer.

'Mauser Von Dreyse' and an unbroken 'Colt Stoner'.

'Krag Jorgenson', and another Conversion beamer toting plastic Squat

Two more plastic Squat Troopers with Bolters.

Brotherhood Five, Squad One.

This is the last of the Brotherhoods in the army. Each Squad is equipped with las-guns, one las-cannon, and the Squad leader has a las-pistol.

I prefer to have the Squat Troopers upgraded with Bolt gun for the extra 3.5 points per Squads, however I had a lot of Las-gun armed miniatures, so put them all in one Brotherhood. I gave the squads the las-cannon upgrade so they can act as anti-vehicle support, and having the las-guns means you are not wasting Str 4 bolter shots.

Ironically this is my favorite Brotherhood as the miniautres mostly metal, full of character, and look great.

Squad leader and Trooper from the Iron Claw range.

I never liked the Iron Squats, and it stopped me from collecting a lot of them at the time. However, now I am painting them up, and much better than in 1989, I have gained a new appreciation for them. I think the problem is that they don't always look great unpainted and my mental image of Squats was from the first RT03 Space Dwarfs range shown in the in the Rogue Trader Rulebook. Also when I was putting together an army for gaming at the time, they weapon options did'nt always seem to fit with the army list.

Another Iron Claw Squat, and a plastic Squat with plastic Las-Cannon from the Imperial Guard box set.

'Luger Gerlich', and 'Gal Von Benko'.

They both have the very 'AK47' looking auto-guns that some of the RT03 Squats had.

Unfortunately they can't use them as such in the army lists, which is a shame as the extra range over the las-gun was always handy.

'Gatt Gunslinger' and 'Lewis Gunn'.

Brtherhood Five, Squad Two.

Metal Squad leader and heavy weapon Trooper from the Perry's designed release in 1989 that came out alongside the plastic boxset. Like a lot of thier ranges of the time they liked to add an injured model.

Again, two more Iron Claw Squats.

Another 'Lewis Gun', and 'Maxim Bang'.

Funny they are both named after early machine guns but have Las-guns! ;)

'Enfield Chambers' and 'Luger Gerlich' again.

Robots: not newly painted but it was pointed out to me by Asslessman that they look like Mr & Mrs Robot.

So I shall name them Sheldon and Amy :)

This week shall I hopefully finishing off the last Combat Squad and the Warlords/Hearthguards, and maybe the Commisars and Bombots.

Sunday, 19 January 2014

A lot has been written on news feeds, blogs, and forums on the demise of White Dwarf and it's transformation into two formats, so I won't bore everyone with repeating it. Personally, I think it's a shame to see it go. However, as I have'nt bought a copy since the release of the Tomb Kings in 2010, and only bought about three copies on the last ten years, it gives you an idea that I have been less than impressed with it's content for sometime.
Will the new approach prove any good? Just have to wait and see, but as we all know GW have a lot of other things to address than just tinkering with White Dwarf (a £30 Codex, really!).

Anyway, painting wise I have managed to get the five Squat Heavy Weapon Trikes finished this week, as well as a few other odds and ends. I only have two basic strength Brotherhoods to finish painting, and then onto the basing and varnishing.

After I have completed the Squats, I might finish off the oddments I have for my Ork Rogue Trader army, and then perhaps paint up a few Goblins as it's been a little while.

Enjoy :)

Bye Bye :(

(Don't worry, it did'nt stay in the bin!).

Five Heavy Weapon Trikes.

Like the Bikers, I have kept the paint scheme linked in with the rest of the army, but used a little more lee-way on some of the details.

First Trike, with a fat little biker on the heavy weapon.

As all but one of these drivers are the seperate arm version, I converted the left arms designed to hold guns by cutting off the hand, and re-attaching it at 180 degrees to rest on the handlebars.

Second Trike, with a Squat adventurer on the back.

Third Trike.

I lost the headlamps to this model, so just I just bulked up the front with a couple of equipment packs from, RTB101 Space Marine box set and a blanket roll from an old Tamiya kit.

Trike number four, with the gunner wearing a leather style jacket.

Back view of the jacket.

The back of the jacket has fronds on it, so I painted them up to look like Native American beadwork and give this Trike a South Western USA biker feel.

Fifth and final Trike.

I converted this Trike to carry a las-cannon using a spare las-cannon mount from the Rogue Trader Ork Wartrak.

Robots.

For every Guildmaster in the force you can have a Mantiple of Robots. They are usually of the same type, so I painted up both of them.

On the left is a Colossus, on the right is the Cataphract.

I might go back and paint more markings on them as they look a little plain. The Colossus has the 'Brighthelmstone' colours on it. The Cataphract is pink due to the history of this particular model. I painted it up in about 1989, and it was meant to be red, but messed up the paint scheme and it turned out pink! I left the colour as it was a bit of a humorous jokey thing at the time. So when I paint stripped it and re-painted it I added pink as a nod to it's orginal pinkness. :)

The Support Weapon Crews for the Tarantulas below.

From the left, another use the of 'Blish' Browning miniature as a crewman, centre is the Iron Claw Servitor, and on the right a spare Thudd Gun crewman.

Sunday, 12 January 2014

As of lunchtime today I have received 25,348 views since I started up my Blog in April 2013. Again, I wish to say thank you to everyone who has taken an interest in my Blog. :)

Painting wise, I am still working my way through my old Rogue Trader Squat Army.
I have been less busy than I thought I would this week, and have been going to bed far too late, meaning I had more time to paint! Consequently I have managed to complete both Biker Squads this week, as well as a few other odds and ends. I have also made a start on the Heavy Weapons Trikes.

I still need to varnish and base the Bikers, as well as the rest of the army. A comment by Asslessman about the Squats being a good opposite to my Space Ork army, as they are both in World War 2 colours, has got me thinking that I might base them up to match the Orks with mud effect and green flock.

Enjoy :)

The 2 Squads of Squat Bikers.

I decided to only use the all one casting metal Squats for the Biker squads to keep a co-herence to them. Also, the bodies that require arms need at least one of the arms converted to hold the handlebars which in my opinion worked better on the Heavy Weapon Trikes than the Bikes.

I did convert up both unit leaders from the exo-armour Trikes.

The 8 Bikers of Squad 1.

With both squads I decided not to go for a 'biker gang' look but keep the uniform style and colour of the rest of the army. I did this to keep the army linked together and not look like a collection of disperate parts. I have however used more leeway in the painting, giving the Bikers more different coloured details and colours, such as with hats, shoulder/knee pads, t-shirts, and gloves. I did paint all the visors a glowing green, giving the idea of data diplay (sat-nav maybe LOL) and to give the units a secondry unifying colour in conjuction with the uniform colour.

The 8 Bikers of Squad 2.

Bikers packing a las-gun too, just to be sure!

Backward facing caps, back in fashion by the 40th Millennium. I like using the orange as it works well with the uniform colour, as does lighter greens.

The most 'biker' looking model of the Bikers. The one at the back I painted as wearing a denim jacket.

The final all one piece metal biker, with a more 'biker' style helmet.

The two Squad leaders. Both are sitting on converted exo-armoured trikes. I built up the cushioning on the seats to give them better height.

The leader on the left is an old Warlord biker, with head swap from a Drastik Plastic Dwarf and holding a Rogue Trader Ork Bolt Pistol from the plastic box set.

The leader on the right is a foot-slogging biker model converted to ride the bike, and with a Bolt Pistol from the weapon sprue GW made at the time.

Guildmaster on a Jet Bike.

Having a Biker Squad allows the use of a Guildmaster. In the old Squat army list they are no Jetbikes, but I thought why not? The Squats are meant to be technologically aware, and I thought he looked good on it. It can count as a normal bike for gaming purposes.

Looking at the model I was struck how 'gangsta' he looked with the gold chain and shades. So I 'pimped him up'a little in the painting, with lots of gold and a purple coat, and kept the shades all gold.

My other Guildmaster miniature on the left. I used Rogue Trader Eldar arms on him to give an armoured/bionic look.

On the right is a human Tech Priest from the RT601 Adventurers range, to be used as an Adept Mech advisor.

Two random miniatures I painted while waiting for the Bikers bascoat to dry.

On the left is an Iron Claw casualty figure. I am going to use him as one of the crew members for a Tarantula weapon system. Rather than have him as dead, once based, I green stuff up some beer cans or a bottle around him to suggest he is a little worse for wear.

The other model is a fantasy Dwarf from the D6 Villager range, which I will use as a living Ancestor.

Heavy Weapon Trikes WIP.

Yesterday I converted the one on the rear right to have a las-cannon instead of the usual Mulit-melta, using a spare las-cannon I had from the Rogue Trader era Ork Wartrak.

I think Squats using on an old Ork Wartrak would be a nice conversion.

Something else from the 1980's!
For those of you unaware, Southern England has also been experiencing high winds and floods. While Brighton and Hove has'nt been flooded, several trees have been blown over (including some old Elms of which we are the only city left to have a signifcant number left). Following a couple of trees being blown over down the road the council cleared some land near the railway, and I spotted and old soft drinks can for Quatro, which they stopped making in the 1980's (1986 according to Wiki). It has the old style ring pull hole, and a best before date of 5th July 1985.

In a fit of 1980's nostalgia I cleaned it up and it's sitting on my shelf!

Next Blog update will be on the progress with the Trikes, and other Squat related stuff I move onto. :)

Sunday, 5 January 2014

Since I changed the Squat army paint scheme on boxing day I have painted three complete Brotherhoods, each consisting of one Warlord and Hearthguard, and three Combat Squads. I still need to varnish and base them, but I have made a good start to the army and the years painting. In additon I managed to get both Mole Mortars done, repainted the thudd gun, painted up the Adeptus Mechanicus, and painted an old Ground Zero Games APC as a proxy Rhino. I still have a lot left to do though.
I also managed to buy a Living Ancestor on e-bay, the one with the Sword :) .

Once I have painted the entire army I will do a much more in-depth Blog update with more detailed photographs. The army is still very WIP.

The Brighthelmstone Stronghold?

Well although I don't usually bother too much with background for armies, I thought I needed a theme and background for the Squat Army. As traditonal Rogue Trader era Squat Armies are generally Stronghold based I thought I would base the background around a Stronghold. I had started to painting the Squats up in Valieljo English Uniform so wondered if I should give them an English feel, but I needed a name for the Stronghold. It then occured to me that as I live in Brighton and Hove, why not give them the old name for Brighton: Brighthelmstone? It sounds suitable for a stronghold name.

Bit of local history, Brighthelmstone was the old Saxon name for Brighton from the time when Sussex was founded as an independent Kingdom (late 5th Century) until 1820's when it had already become know more commonly as Brighton.
In 1997, Brighton and the ajoining town of Hove (where I live, actually) merged together, and in 2000 we were granted City status and a new combined coat of Arms by the Queen. So I decided to paint the army badges and oddments with the same Azure colour used in the Coat of Arms, although I drew the line at painting Dolphins on things!
By the way, Inter undas et colles floremus' translates into 'Between downs and sea we flourish', although as we have a nearby valley up the on the South Downs known as the Devils Dyke, I like to think of it more as being between the Devil and the deep blue sea! A very suitable Motto for the Squats, especally with Games Workshop releasing more Tyranids into the wild this month. :)

Brighton and Hove's Coat of Arms, made from combining the Brighton's and Hove's old ones.

Anyway, why does this matter to the Squats?

The start of the background I have come up with is that long ago during the Dark Age of Technology/The Squat Age of Founding, a small group of intrepid explorers and colonisers left the south what was to become the Pre-Unity state of Albyon and headed out to found a colony. Naturally drawn to hilly areas by the sea, they settled in hill country, burrowed into the local Downland, and named it Brighthelmstone, after the ancient name of thier original home. They chose an vintage uniform colour and the blue Azure of thier crest as part of their identity.

I'll write up more later, and might even have a go at painting the crest on a couple of vehicles.

Anyway, enough of local history, on to the painted stuff!

Three Brotherhoods, 87 Squats. Also the Support weapons and the Adeptus Mechanicus.

The First Brotherhood.

3 Iron Claw Squats, with the centre one being used as a Warlord.

I must admit that I have never been a fan of the Iron Claw Squats, but now I am painting them up I am begining to like them more. They are useful for using as Warlords and Hearthguard as they are both characterful, and the weapons they have can pass for a lot more of the exotic equipment they might roll up on the weapons/equipment charts.

Troopers.

I have painted them using Valiejo English uniform, which I highlighted with the same and a little white.

The belts and pouches are painted with Valiejo Brown Violet, and highlighted again with that and white. The whole model was then given a wash of Citadel Agrax Earthshade.

Where possible I have added odd differences, such as different coloured gloves/pads/armour/random equipment, to break up the block of colour.

The Second Brotherhood.

On the left an Iron Claw miniature with a Shuriken Catapult eing used as a Warlord. To keep with the nod to an English theme I have him a British Army looking Officers cap. Might call him Melchet.

On the right is the one of the Squat Medic miniatures which I am using as a Hearthguard. I always liked this miniature.

Two more Iron Claw Squats as Hearthguard, on the left a Needle gun, on the right a Plasma Gun.

Left to right, plastic Heavy Bolter, metal Grenade Launcher, and the right is a plastic squat with a plastic Dwarf head from the Drastik Plastik Dwarf set.

Three more troopers, a metal one on the left, the other plastic.

I love the head with shades, and the one on the right shows how I added the RTB101 Bolter on. All but one of the Five Brotherhoods have the Bolt Gun upgrade, adding that extra punch for 3.5 point per squad.

The Third Brotherhood.

Another Iron Claw Squat Hearthguard on the left, and a Warlord on the right from the Command Group range, named Vikas Ingram. It was only after I painted him that I realised he looked a little like a heavily armed Father Christmas! LOL

Two more Iron Claw Squats. The gun on the left looked a little like the Web Gun/pistol from the rulebook, so I painted it up differently from the normal Bolt Pistols.

Three metal Squats sculpted by the Perry Twins.

On the left, and used as a Hearthguard with Flamer is Waltha Twelvebore; centre is Laoder Grigg, and left is Capt. Khyrk. Both are used as normal Troopers.

I always liked the joke/funny names that the Perry's Squats had.

Heavy Weapon conversions.

On the left is a Heavy Plasma gun made using an old broken Titan Weapon from Adeptus Titanicus. He replaced the heavy Plasma gun conversion I had previuosly done using an Ork gun, as it did'nt look that good. I added RTB101 Space Marine pouches to his back to bulk him out.

On the right is another plastic miniature converted to hold another RTB101 item, a Missile Launcher.

Mole Mortars.

Close up of the Crew.

I have given the crew members Royal Artillery coloured helmets and caps to tell them apart from the Troopers, and to add a different blue (Ultramarine Blue) other than Azure.

The re-painted Thudd Gun.

Thudd Gunn crew.

Squat Adeptus Mechanicus.

I really like this miniature, and only got him recently from e-bay.

I the game they are useful for repairing things, but I primarly wanted one to paint up and to have as part of the background.

I decided that painting his armour red all over, as is the style for the Adeptus Mechanicus would jar too much with the rest of the army. So I decided to just do the pipes, shoulder, and knee pads, as well as have the Brighthelmstone Azure blue on the chest centre.

Rear view

Ground Zero Games APC.

I bought this back in the 1990's and have had it laying around since then, so thuoght I would use it as a Rhino proxy, a locally produced APC. I modified it by adding two Bolters on the side, and might paint more details on it. I'm not very impressed with it, it was a poor quality casting (I don't know if GZG are better now) but thought I might as well use it for something.

Three random Squats. Gunner Kief on the left with a Multi Melta, centre an Iron Claw Squat with a Melta gun which I use as a Hearthguard, and right another Bob Olley Squat, this time used as a Squad Leader.

Biker!

I painted up a test model to see how the bikers will look.

Still WIP. I wanted to avoid making them a 'biker' add-on to the army, but have them look like an intergral part. So I have decided to paint them in the same scheme as the rest of the army, although they will get more individualist detailing.

I still have lots of Squats to paint, so will be carrying on with them. I am taking a break from the footsloggers and turning my attention to the bikers. I have two Squads of 8 bikers to do, 5 Heavy Weapon Trikes, and a Guildmaster on a jetcycle. :)